


How To Find a Husband in Ten Days

by Cigarettes_and_Valentines



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Prince and Knight AU, actually just my excuse to put keith in fancy outfits, keith's dad is a dick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:38:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7910305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cigarettes_and_Valentines/pseuds/Cigarettes_and_Valentines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith is a prince with a problem. To keep his people happy, he needs to marry another royal as soon as possible, hopefully securing an alliance. Too bad that the only person who catches his eye is the handsome knight, Sir Lance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One - Part One

It was the first day of the Tourney, and all over the castle, servants were rushing back and forth. They hurried to either prepare the feast or to prepare the grounds. Archery and strength competitions would be held, but like every year, the two to watch out for were the jousting and the sword fighting. And each year, without fail, Prince Keith of Sandresta would win the sword fighting competition. Some had accused him of cheating, as it did seem suspicious that he would win the tournament organized at _his_ castle, but once they faced his swordsmanship skills, there was no denying his talent. He put all of his passion and energy into his blows, providing a great show for the audience, and ensured him a victory in every competition.

The Prince was preparing for the tourney in his bedroom. As guests from all over the country would be dressed to the nines, he would have to dress up as well, he was told. Keith frowned as he looked in the mirror, his manservant behind him helping him into an extravagant red coat. Long coattails trailed behind him and big buttons shone in the morning light. The coat was adorned with heavy black embroidery and beads, quite literally weighing down on Keith’s shoulders. He turned and examined himself in the mirror.

“Isn’t it a bit too much, Arthur?” Keith asked, fiddling with a particularly large bead that hung from his shoulder.

“You don’t like it?” Arthur asked, not looking up from the ribbons lacing up the back of the coat. Keith hissed as he pulled them.

“It’s too tight. And it’s too damn fancy. How the hell am I supposed to fight like this?” Keith grumbled. He took another look at himself. This coat looked like something he would be forced to wear to a grand ball, not for a tourney. It just looked impractical, and judging by how tight it was, he’d either lose, unable to move the sword properly, or alternatively he would just faint before the battle was over because of how little he could breathe with it on.

“Oh, yes.” Arthur kept his eyes on the ribbons. “About that. Your father asked for you to be removed from the tourney this time. I thought he’d already told you.”

“Well obviously not!” Keith fumed. “Why?”

“Well – “

“Is it because of the stupid cheating thing again? Because everyone knows it’s not true. I swear, Earl Sendak is just that much of a sore loser.” Keith said. “Ugh. Why does he always have to _do_ this? Can’t I just have one thing that makes me happy?” And with that he stormed out of the room.

“Your Majesty, wait!” Arthur called behind him, the ribbons trailing out of his hands, but Keith was already gone, slamming the door on his way out. He marched through the castle, multiple maids almost bumping into him as they hurried to prepare for the foreign guests that would be staying over to watch the tourney.

After much searching, he eventually found his father in the drawing room, talking to a couple of maids.

“And I want everything for the guests to be perfect. Their experience here will have a very strong reflection on their overall opinion of Sandresta, and I won’t lose trade agreements just because you didn’t do everything you could to make sure they had a comfortable stay.” The maids nodded and left quickly, whispering to each other as they hurried out of the room. _Probably talking shit_ , he thought.

“Father.” Keith said as the maids left.”

“Oh Keith, you do look great in that coat.” His father said, walking around to examine him. “Could do with it being a little tighter, though.”

“Father,” Keith repeated. “Why did you say I can’t compete in the tourney? You know how much I was looking forward to it, so why do you have to come along and ruin it?”

“Keith, the Tourney of the Flowers is a very special one, happening only once annually.” His father began and Keith sighed. His father had a habit of talking to him like he was an idiot, which he liked to think that he was not. “The tourney celebrates the importance of unity, and thus, it is popular for unwed nobles to select their suitors there.”

“I know. You don’t need to explain our own customs to me.” Keith said, before his brain put two and two together. “No. No way. You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” His father replied casually. “You’re not getting any younger, Keith. When I was your age, I was already married and on my way to starting a family.”

“Well, that’s great for you, but I don’t want to get married yet.”

“And that’s unfortunate, but Keith, you are a prince. If you don’t get married soon, people will start getting the wrong idea.”

“And what’s that? That I actually care about doing what I like instead of following all these dumb outdated rules?”

“Look Keith, I don’t need you to be so argumentative. Your mother thinks that I’m being too harsh on you – “

“Yeah, because she’s right.”

“So I came to a compromise.” His father continued as if he had not been interrupted. “Although I feel you tried to prevent it, I am aware of your – ahem – disposition.” Keith’s eyes flashed with worry. There was a reason he had tried to keep his sexuality a secret from his father. The man would without a doubt use it as a bargaining chip to get his own way.

“What about it?” Keith tried to keep any notes of worry out of his voice.

“Well, I’ve decided. If, by the end of the tourney, you have chosen a suitor, you may marry them, without our input. If not, then your mother and I will choose a wife from a good noble family for you.”

“What?” Keith was stunned. “How the hell did you come up with that?” His father would actually give him a choice? And a big choice like this as well.

“There’s only one thing that matters to you and that’s the fact that you need to be married as soon as possible. You can choose to agree or not, but regardless, we will be getting you married by the end of this year. It’s up to you.” And with that, his father walked off, following the maids to check up on what they were doing. He left Keith standing there, trying to process everything that happened. He’d always expected his father to come down on him hard about marriage eventually, but right now it was a little much to take. And the tourney was only ten days long. His father expected him to find someone who he was willing to spend the rest of his life with in just ten days? Impossible. Even if it was just a sham to keep his parents happy, how the hell was he supposed to find one in so little time? And it still didn’t even answer the question of why he couldn’t compete in the sword fighting competition as well. Did his father expect him to just sit on the sidelines cheering for his supposed suitor while the fight went on? Because that was the last thing he wanted to do was sit on the fucking benches and wave his handkerchief in the air like some goddamn storybook princess.

“Your Majesty,” Keith’s thoughts were interrupted as Arthur hurried into the room. “We must finish dressing you.”

“No, Arthur.” Keith replied, struggling to get out of the tight jacket. “I’m not going to this damn tourney any more. Father told me everything.”

“Your Majesty, I’m certain that your father only wants what is best for you.” Arthur said, “Please, don’t try to be difficult.”

“Difficult? _Difficult?_ He’s the one giving me life-changing ultimatums and _I’m_ the one who’s being difficult? Is it so hard for me to get married to whoever I want, whenever I want? Like a normal person?”

“But Your Majesty, you aren’t a normal person. You’re royalty, and with that comes a whole different lot of rules to follow.”

“And that means I’m just supposed to up and get married whenever my father wants me to? What about what I want?”

“Your Majesty,” Arthur lowered his voice to a whisper and stepped closer. “You shouldn’t let anyone know I told you this, I could get in a bit of trouble for it. But, as you know, servants talk, and secrets tend to get around whether people want it or not.”

“And?”

“Well, you see from what the maids have overheard of your father talking to the finance minister, the country could some help.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing serious, I don’t think. Well, at least not for _now_. But marrying you off to another royal family would be beneficial.”

“So he just wants to marry me off to get himself out of debt? Is that why he invited all those guests from foreign countries over? So that he could pair me off with one of them.”

“It’s not just your father, Your Majesty, it’s the whole country. If the land sinks further into debt, it won’t bode well for the future of your people.” Now that put Keith between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t just ruin the lives of so many people because he was mad at his father. It was worth at least _trying_ to find a suitor. Not for his father, but for the people of his country.

And so, he put up with it. He let Arthur finish fitting him into the impossibly tight jacket, an equally tight pair of black culottes (thankfully, plain this time) and black and red boots, designed to match his jacket. He was boiling hot, extremely uncomfortable and very grumpy. Any suitor who wanted to marry him would have a hard job convincing him to spend an eternity together right now.

When he headed to the entrance hall, as ready to greet the new guests as much as possible, he had to admit that he was impressed by all the efforts of the servants to decorate the hall. There were flowers everywhere. Flowers of all shapes and colours were in bouquets on tables and the floor, hanging from the walls and the ceiling. Even the chandeliers had been polished, which must have taken a lot of effort. He got into position, everyone getting into a line, preparing to greet the arriving guests.

A bugle blared and Keith knew that the time had come. The front doors swung open, and a group of people entered, trailing behind the messenger in his feathered hat and puffy breeched (at least he wasn’t the most ridiculously dressed person in the room). Servants peeked out of doorways to catch a glimpse of the foreign guests as they arrived. The bugle continued to play as the messenger produced a scroll from somewhere in that ridiculously frilly jacket and cleared his throat.

“Introducing, from the land of Icenoria, Prince Bjorn the Bear.” The messenger called, and stepped aside to reveal a man who was at least six feet tall, with most of his face light brown hair. Keith knew that it was rude to look, but he just couldn’t help it. It was pretty clear why they called him “The Bear”. His mustache, beard and sideburns all seemed to blend into one, off-putting mass of hair. And to top it off, he was dressed in long fur topped boots, a kilt (a kilt for god’s sake, Keith thought) and a leather vest. His arms, as expected were also covered in a thick layer of hair. So not very attractive. He was followed by a young woman, dressed in leather and fur armor, who had clearly been sent as a body guard. Even she looked slightly embarrassed to be seen with him, hiding her face behind her long blonde hair. Keith applauded along with everyone else as Bjorn greeted his father and mother first. When he came to Keith, he shook his hand with a vice-like grip.

“I look forward to getting to know you more intimately, Prince Keith.” He said in his deep, husky voice. Keith simply smiled and nodded politely as the servants took his bags.  

“And next, the beautiful Princess Sangrietta of Ardentus.” The messenger announced the presence of a woman who was definitely better looking than Bjorn the Bear. She was definitely older than him, with olive skin and black hair that fell down in waves. And she was also much better dressed than Bjorn, in a long, flowing red dress that touched the floor. She smiled politely as she curtsied for the King and Queen, and then for Keith, followed by a stern-looking scarred man who Keith assumed had been sent as protection.

“Nice to meet you, kid.” She said as he bowed to her, before she passed him. He watched while she smiled kindly to the servants and asked one of them if she could possibly trouble them for a glass of wine.

“From the island of Immalta, please welcome Prince Sun.” Everyone applauded as a young man with jet black hair stepped forward. He dressed in a long black coat, with black trousers and shoes that were also black. Keith wondered if he was getting hot, dressed in all black in the middle of the summer. But the prince didn’t seem to mind. Instead of greeting the King and Queen first, he stepped towards the messenger.

“Actually, it’s pronounced more like Swin.” He said a false smile plastered on his face. “Please try to pronounce it correctly next time. And so Sun greeted the King and Queen graciously before moving to Keith. He noticed that this Prince was not followed by any kind of guard-type person, which didn’t really seem like a smart idea to Keith, but who was he to judge? As Sun walked towards him, Keith noticed that despite his name, he made an effort to stay out of the patches of bright sunlight streaming in through the castle windows.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.” Sun said as they shook hands. _Well, at least he was polite, if not a little weird_ , Keith thought.

“And lastly, we welcome Queen Allura of Altea.” Keith applauded as the woman stepped forward. She did look great, with dark skin, pale hair and an enormous smile. She wore an elegant pink dress and was followed by a _very_ attractive knight to protect her. Keith found himself paying more attention to that knight than he was supposed to be to the Queen herself. He just couldn’t help it though. His beautiful brown skin, dark brown hair and bright blue eyes had caught Keith’s eye. And that shining suit of armor didn’t help make him any less noticeable either. Keith blinked rapidly as he tried to focus again, this time on the Queen who had already greeted the King and Queen and was now approaching him.

“Hello,” she said while she curtsied. “I am Queen Allura and he is my knight, Lance. I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends after this visit.” Keith bowed and gave her a generic reply, hiss mind once again on the knight who was quite literally in shining armor.

 _So your name’s Lance, huh?_ He thought.


	2. Day One - Part Two

Keith’s outfit, as pretty as it was, was not designed for this kind of weather. He tugged at his uncomfortably tight collar, trying to get at least a little more room to breathe. They had all made their way to the parlour now, and were sitting in polite conversation while being served tea and drinks.

“So, Prince Bjorn,” Keith’s father began. “How is trade going in Icenoria? I see the prices of salmon and gold going up every single day. Things must be going well for you.” Keith sipped his tea quietly, focusing on his ornate blue china and gold rimmed tea cup. It was one thing for his father to bring in a bunch of princes and princesses so that he could marry one for the money, but it was a completely different thing for him to try and weed out which one was the richest so that he could try and hook him up with them.

“Good, Your Highness.” Bjorn replied, in his deep and gruff voice. “We are getting richer and richer every single day. Soon, we’ll have our salmon swimming in gold!” Bjorn belted out a hearty laugh, which was half-heartedly followed by the rest of the room. With at least two of the countries being represented in the room having economies which weren’t looking too well, maybe joking about fish swimming in precious metals wasn’t the brightest idea.

“Excellent! You know, I have always been interesting in how the Icenorians go about curing their salmon so that it still tastes so delicious even after so long.” His father leaned in, and Keith had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. The last thing he needed was for his dad to try and hit on a hairy and probably older man for him. He turned away from the animated conversation his father had gotten himself stuck into, listening in to what the others were talking about.

“Ah, I hear the vineyards in the north of Altea are beautiful this time of year.” Princess Sangrietta said, sipping a glass of red win. She swilled the liquid around the glass absent-mindedly as she talked. She grinned and leaned closer to Queen Allura.

“Oh yes!” Allura replied excitedly. “It’ll be time to start picking the grapes soon. I love that time of year, you know, when the wine is starting to be made. Don’t you?”

“Any time with wine is a good time.” Sangrietta and Allura laughed together. Keith smiled. At least this was a better conversation than his father hitting on someone else for him. His mother nudged his shoulder gently while he watched the women talk, giving him a look that said _You know I raised you better than this._ Meaning, of course, that he was expected to get off his ass and socialize with these people. Which was fair, he was supposed to be getting married to one of them by the end of the tourney, it was just that none of them really caught his attention. The only person here who he found remotely attractive was that muscular tanned knight who now stood leaning against a pillar, looking nothing short of glorious in the sunlight streaming in through the tall windows.

Keith put on a smile and began talking about the old breweries established all over the country, which definitely caught Sangrietta’s interest. But even while he chatted with them, he couldn’t help glancing at Lance every now and again. Why? He didn’t know. It wasn’t like he was going to leave any time soon, but he just couldn’t help it. It was something about those bright, blue eyes that drew him in.  He wondered what it would be like to see them closer up. And those muscles must look even better closer up. Keith would love to spar with him one day, fighting with them until they were both hot, sweaty and panting. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to carry on with that idea right now. His clothes were _very_ tight, and getting any more excited wasn’t going to be very comfortable right now. He’d save that mental image for later that night, when he didn’t have to wear any more ridiculously suffocating clothes.

And so they spent a few hours talking. The tourney wouldn’t officially start until the evening, so for the whole day, Keith was going to have to entertain the guests, wasting time that he could have spent training. That was, if he was going to compete anyways. Maybe, if he played nice, he’d be able to convince his father to let him join in. He didn’t even want to think about the whole trying to find a suitor by the end of the tourney thing. It was also a little surprising that his father even brought along women like that was actually a choice Keith would make. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. He looked over at his father, who was still talking to Bjorn about fishing or something. He couldn’t help hold in a smile as he watched his father seem to be falling asleep while Bjorn carried on talking about fish or lumberjacks or whatever it was.

Keith was interrupted by his train of thought when a flustered servant rushed in and wished to speak to the King.  Something about needing his advice for an issue with the tourney preparations. The King politely excused himself from his conversation and left. His mother followed behind him, leaving him alone with his ‘suitors’. Well, crap. Now he had to make conversation. Thankfully, Allura and Sangrietta seemed to already be in deep conversation, and now he only had to worry about Sun and Bjorn, who were looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to fill the void in the conversation his father left behind.

“So, Your Highness,” Bjorn began.

“Please, call me Keith.” Keith replied with an awkward smile.

“Oh, okay… Keith.” Bjorn hesitated over his name as if it was some kind of rude word. When it finally came out, his smile sent shivers down Keith’s spine. And not the good kind of shivers either, the kind he got when he was walking through the old and possibly haunted castle the middle of the night and heard an unfamiliar sound. “Why don’t you tell us a little more about yourself?”

“Uh,” Keith tried to ignore the uncomfortable smile Bjorn was giving him. “Well, I love sword fighting, archery, horse riding, you know, anything that involves going outside, really.”

“Really?” Bjorn leaned over closer. “You know, I love going into the outdoors for a nice bit of hiking and fishing. I just love going out into the open wild, you know. You can get as messy as you like, and do whatever you want without worrying about getting caught. No matter how…ahem… private.” Keith had to keep a smile plastered on his face to keep himself from letting out a yell. His father was seriously considering marrying him off to someone who liked having sex out in the woods.

“Yeah.” Keith replied politely. “Although, you know, I wouldn’t say I was that big of a fan of the outdoors.” He wanted to make it _very_ clear that there was no chance in hell that this muscular overly hairy man was going to take him to some random spot in the middle of the woods and expect them to get it on. No. That wasn’t happening. No way. He tried to ignore the smile that was on Sexy Knight Lance’s face. God dammit he found this funny while Keith was busy being terrified.

“Oh, I’m sure that I could change that.” Bjorn took Keith’s hand in his larger ones and looked up at him through his lashes. Keith wanted to pull away so badly, to just pull out of this situation entirely and run away before he was wrapped into some loveless marriage with one of the four seemingly bad choices with one of the suitor his father had picked out for him. But unfortunately he couldn’t, and he was forced to sit there and listen to Bjorn trying to hit on him in the hope that he’d get to take Keith back with him to freezing cold Icenoria and spend the rest of their lives fishing together, or whatever it was Bjorn did that didn’t involve exposing himself in the middle of the woods.

Keith was very glad, when finally the housekeeper, a stern but caring lady, seemed to have taken pity on him and told the guests that their rooms were ready and if they wanted they could settle in while they waited for lunch to be ready, they could. If it weren’t so inappropriate, Keith would have run up to the woman and kiss her. He still had to get up and walk all of them to their rooms, but after that he’d get at least fifteen minutes, maybe even half an hour of free time when he wouldn’t have to deal with any damn people who wanted to marry him, which would be nice.

And so he was forced to track around the castle, helping everyone find their way to their bedrooms. Sangrietta and Allura both had their bedrooms in the north tower (Keith made note of the fact that Lance’s bedroom was right next to Allura’s), overlooking the gardens. He said goodbye to them politely as they went to make themselves comfortable. And then it turned out that Bjorn had been given the bedroom just down the hall from his. Now that wasn’t a surprise. It was starting to become clear now that his father wanted him to pick Bjorn. And Icenoria was a very rich country, if he remembered correctly. Then it was obvious, his father had already picked who Keith was going to end up marrying in the end. So much for “his choice”.

He pretended that he didn’t hear Bjorn’s slightly suggestive comments about their rooms being so close to each other and bid him a good morning, leaving before he got a chance to say anything else cringe worthy. And then the only person left was Sun who, even though he had been fairly quiet in the parlour, became more talkative as they walked through the hallways. Every few seconds he would ask about some piece of artwork on display, taking particular interest in the older ones. It was actually a fairly pleasant conversation, almost great compared to Bjorn’s discussions about sex on a fishing boat. Together, him and the housekeeper led Sun to his room, in the east tower.”

“And the best thing about the east tower.” The housekeeper said as she fluffed up his pillows. “Is that the rooms are almost always filled with lots of lovely sunlight.”

“Hmm.” Sun frowned. Apparently the idea of lots of lovely sunlight didn’t appeal to him. He walked up to the window and examined the windows. “Well, I guess that the curtains will be thick enough to block most of it out.” The housekeeper then gave both of them a goodbye before leaving to do some other pressing task that was worrying her.

“So,” Sun said once the housekeeper was gone, leaning against the doorway. “I hear that you’re – ahem – unattached currently.” _Oh great, not this again._ Keith thought _. It would be nice If for just one second today I could have some peace and quiet instead of being hit on constantly._

“Yes.” Keith replied, going to the window so he could avoid eye contact. Bad idea. His back stiffened as he felt an arm wrap around his waist.

“Well, in that case, we can change that if you want.” Sun leaned closer and whispered into his ear. Keith tilted his head away. “What? Come on, have a little fun.”

“Prince Sun, please.” Keith made an attempt to escape, but Sun simply tightened his grip around him.

“Don’t be so uptight, Your Highness.” Sun’s lips were inches away from his neck. He could feel his warm breath against his skin and it was less than pleasant.  He repressed a shudder.

“Prince Sun!” Keith was about to push the man away when he felt him move sharply away. He turned to find none other than Lance holding Prince Sun by his shoulder, looking uncharacteristically stern.

“What are you doing?” He asked, not loosening his grip. “Can’t you see he wants you to leave him alone?” He looked at Sun, fire flashing in his eyes. Sun stared back, and Keith felt like there were sparks flying between them. He had to intervene before things escalated. The last time he had to deal with a bloody nose and an international incident, his father hadn’t let him hear the end of it for weeks.

“Thank you, Knight Lance.” Keith said. “Please, come with me.” He tapped Lance on the shoulder, trying to get him to leave before he could get any angrier at the Prince. Thankfully, Lance followed along obediently.

“Are you okay?” He asked once they were out of earshot of the room.

“I’m fine, really.” Keith said. “And I could have dealt with him by himself, you know.”

“Didn’t look like it.” Lance replied.

“Trust me, I was about to deal with him.” Keith deadpanned. “And why are you here anyways?”

“Queen Allura was wondering where she could find a tailor. She found that one of her dresses was ripped.”

“Oh that’s a shame. I’ll send a laundry maid up for her when I can.” Keith replied.

“So, are you excited about the tourney?” Lance asked.

“Oh yes. It’ll be great, won’t it?”

“Of course. You said you liked to swordfight right? Are you going to compete?”

“No, not this year.” Keith smiled.

“Why not? Scared I’ll beat you?” Lance grinned.

“No, more like I’m actually giving you a chance to win.” Keith replied. This was nice, being able to talk to someone who didn’t treat him like a prince, just a regular person.

“Pffft yeah right.” Lance joked.

“Yeah. Right.” Keith grinned back. “Maybe sometime I’ll take you on.”

“Oh yeah? I bet I’d win.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Sir Lance.”

“Please, it’s just Lance.”

“Then call me Keith.”

‘I can’t do that!” Lance protested.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a Prince!” Lance replied. “I can’t go around calling you by your first name! What would people think?”

“Okay, fair enough. Maybe when it’s just the two of us, then?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, I like the sound of that.” Lance replied, before bidding goodbye and going off to check up on Allura. Keith watched as Lance left, the first genuine smile on his face that he’d felt for a while. He had to admit, Sexy Knight Lance was definitely the best thing so far about the whole damn tourney situation. And he sure as hell hoped that it would stay that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Okay, so this work was actually kind of inspired by [this art](https://m-arci-a.tumblr.com/post/149195264495/may-i-present-you-a-knight-voltron-au-starring-sir) over here ;)  
> 2\. I'm basing the servants off of a [Victorian servant hierarchy](http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/servantwages.htm) even though it kind of doesn't fit the time period bc it's really just a lot simpler to understand  
> 3\. Pls check out my [tumblr](http://long-days-pleasant-nights.tumblr.com/) for more klance and stuff!


	3. Day One - Part Three

Keith was glad he still had about ten minutes to go to his chamber and flop down on his bed, more mentally exhausted than physically. He closed his eyes and et out a long sigh. Well, as long as he could manage in the restrictive jacket he was wearing. He knew that in the privacy of his own room he could take it off, but then he’d have to go through he whole ordeal of putting the damn thing back on again. And besides, he wasn’t even sure if he would be able to untie the intricately knotted ribbons trailing down his spine.

But right now he wasn’t really thinking about uncomfortable fashion choices. His thoughts were focused on Sexy Knight Lance and his charming yet cocky attitude. He really wished that he could take him on in a duel, and see if he was all talk or not. If he’d been sent as a Queen’s bodyguard, then he had to be pretty good. A fight like that would be a nice challenge, and then maybe afterwards he could convince Lance to share a cool and refreshing drink after working up such a sweat fighting. And then after a few drinks maybe things would progress a little further and…

No. This knight, as beautiful as he was, was not an option. Arthur had made it pretty clear that the only way he could save Sandresta from economic ruin was if he were to get married to another royal. And unless Lance somehow magically turned out to be the long-lost illegitimate son and therefore an heir to the throne (Keith couldn’t rule out the possibility entirely. This had happened a few times before.) he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting any closer to him. And besides, he had to find a suitor by the end of the tourney. He had ten days to pick someone to spend the rest of his life with, and that probably more attention than this crush.

Keith knew he should have been reviewing the possibilities then, going over the options of who he could choose. But honestly, he didn’t want to pick any of them. The two women, as nice as they seemed, were completely out of the question. And that left him with a choice between the art fanatic who tried to accost him or the living mass of hair who tried to convince him to have sex in the middle of the woods. He had to say that both options looked a little bit daunting. Really, he was hoping for some kind of a miracle to occur that would solve whatever the fuck was going on in his life right now. That would be real great.

But his hopes of a magical solution were halted when a maid knocked on his door, telling him that lunch was ready. He smiled and nodded, rolling off of his bed and heading down to the main dining room. By the time he got there, everyone else was already sitting down, however the food hadn’t been served yet. And he could feel his parents, eyes on him, judging him. The host wasn’t supposed to be late to own events, and he was sure that his parents would chew him out for this later. Quietly, he went to go sit on the only empty seat, which, unfortunately was in between Bjorn and Sun. Damn it. Maybe there was someone up above who really didn’t like him.

He smiled politely at both of them before reaching for the wine decanter on the table and pouring himself a glass. He sipped it carefully. Sadly, the bodyguards weren’t eating with them, so he didn’t get a chance to see Lance, but he knew that he was close by, and that was something of a comfort for him. Lance was the only person he’d met recently that he actually liked, and even though he knew that they could probably never be together, he brought a pleasant change to the otherwise awful events.

Thankfully, most people were deep in conversation by the time he sat down, so it wasn’t as bad. Everyone greeted him and went back to their conversations, politely ignoring how late he was, but probably making note of it all the same. Queen Allura smiled and tried to make conversation with him, to get rid of the slightly awkward air that surrounded him.

“So, Prince Keith, my knight Lance told me that you swordfight. Will you be competing in the tourney this year?”

“Oh no,” Keith racked his brain for an excuse. “I… uh… decided to focus more on hosting this year instead of competing. You know, do something different. Are you looking forward to it?”

“Ah I see, I’m looking forward to the whole thing. I’m sure it’ll be lots of fun!” She sipped some wine and sighed. “I wish we could hold festivals like this in Altea.”

“And may I ask why that is?”

“Altea is just too small to hold something of this grandeur. As beautiful as it is, we just wouldn’t be able to manage it.”

“Well, in that case, you’re welcome to come and join any time.” Keith said with a smile.

“And then you can come over to Altea and test your swordfighting skills. We have some of the best trained fighters in the land. You’d be welcome to come and test your hand against them.” And with that Keith’s smile widened even more. Okay, so maybe all his marriage options weren’t terrible. There was the little problem of the fact she was a woman, which could cause some complications for him, but at least she was nicer than most of the other suitors. Or maybe it was just an Altean thing, since both the queen and her knight were so kind.

The serving maids quietly hurried around the table as they placed plates in front of everyone and made sure that all their glasses were filled, and all needs attended to. Conversation across the table paused as people tasted the food. It was, as usual, elaborate and delicious. And then everyone mumbled politely about how good the food was before launching back into the conversations they had been having before. Keith quickly struck up more conversation with Allura, before Bjorn could even manage to turn around and speak to him.

Talking to Allura was nice. She was definitely a lot more level-headed than the others, it seemed.  Throughout the entire meal, Keith did his best to ignore the frequent attempts from both his father and Bjorn to get Keith to talk to him. He tried to look at either his plate or Allura’s face in order to avoid giving them any chances to rope him into a conversation and Bjorn’s open flirtation. All in all, this was a more pleasurable affair than he was expecting. Well, that was until he felt warm breath on his side and realised Bjorn was about to whisper in his ear.

“Prince Keith.” Keith felt his body stiffen as Bjorn spoke. “I’m sorry for doing this right now, but I feel as though I owe you an apology.”

“What?” Keith hissed back, glad that the conversations of others were covering their discussion up.

“I know that I’ve said some things to you that weren’t really appropriate and for that I apologize. I guess that there’s some cultural difference between here and Icenoria. Please know that I never intended to make you feel uncomfortable in any way, Your Majesty. I sincerely apologize.” Bjorn said, and he really _did_ sound sincere. Keith guessed it could be a possible mistake. Maybe things really were different in Icenoria, but at least Bjorn was being kind about it. It could be worse. However, it wasn’t like this meant that he was going to consider him an option for marriage any more than before. Whether he liked it or not, there was only one person at the damn tourney he was willing to go into any kind of romantic relationship. And sadly, there was no way in hell that he’d be able to. His father definitely wasn’t going to agree to let him marry some foreign knight who probably didn’t even have one single drop of royal blood.

“Thanks, but why are you doing this here?” Keith whispered back. Bjorn shrugged.

“I didn’t think there’d be a time when you’d willingly speak to me. I thought this would be the best chance I’d get.” Bjorn replied. That seemed plausible enough.

“Okay, I accept your apology.” Keith said. “But don’t think that you still have a chance with me.” Bjorn sucked in his breath before he nodded and gave a small okay. With the apology over, Keith and Bjorn joined the lunchtime conversation, leaving Keith feeling a little better with the hope that maybe there’d be one less creepy royal hitting on him over the next few days. And now he could peacefully join in with a conversation about how to improve agricultural crop trading. Nothing said fun like a riveting discussion about corn sales.

When lunch was finally over, they were supposed to retire to the garden and relax in the sunshine, but a sudden bout of rainfall had forced them all to stay inside. And so they stayed in the parlour and talked more about boring corn sales. At least on the bright side, Lance was here now. He stood by the doorway with the other bodyguards and watched over the boring conversation. Keith saw them turn to each other and talk, probably having a much more interesting discussion than what was going on here. It was hard for Keith to focus in the warm room. Especially after such a filling lunch and a long day, he was finding it hard to stay awake. As everyone else talked, he felt his eyelid grow heavier. It was difficult to keep them open. He occasionally offered his opinion when he was asked, but otherwise he would start to zone out of everything that was happening.

He guessed he must have fallen asleep without knowing it, because he woke up with a jolt when he received a sharp poke. Keith almost jumped out of his seat as he looked around to see that the parlour was almost empty, apart from Allura and Lance, who stood by him, smiling warmly. Lance’s eyes on him made him sit up a little straighter, and he self-consciously wiped his mouth, hoping that he hadn’t been drooling like an idiot.

“Sorry,” Allura said. “I didn’t mean to surprise you so much. You’ll probably need to get ready for the opening ceremony soon.” Keith let out a groan and flopped back down onto the soft chair. Right now, he really didn’t want another tight and uncomfortable costume made mainly for the purpose of his suitors ogling him than anything else.

“How long was I asleep for?” He asked, stretching as far as he could in his restrictive clothing.

“Just a few hours.” Lance smiled brightly. God damn it was he cute when he smiled like that.

“Were you here the whole time?” Keith asked. “And where did everyone else go?”

“Oh, everyone else went for a tour of the grounds, since it stopped raining. However, I much rather preferred to sit inside and read a book.” She motioned to a book on the coffee table, a grin on her face. “Don’t worry. I hate all these boring talks about trade and everything as much as anyone else. I could barely stay awake either.”

“Yeah, and she wasn’t wearing something that looked like it was too sizes too small.” Lance replied, before adding a quick, “Your Highness.”

“It is a bit tight, isn’t it?” Keith shifted in the chair.

“I mean it looks really good though.” Lance said, his cheeks flushing red when he realized what he said. Keith laughed.

“Thank you, Lance.” He said. “I’m glad you like it. I might pass out in it though if I have to stay in here much longer.”

“Don’t worry.” Lance replied, “I’ll carry you to safety.” He said with a playful wink.

“Oh, how heroic.”

“That’s why I’m a knight.” Lance said, coming closer before dropping into a deep bow, extending his hand. “At your service, Prince Keith.” Keith laughed as he took his hand.

“Well, when you two are done flirting…” Allura said, looking up from her book. Keith and Lance rapidly dropped their hands and turned bright red.

“Oh, uh my Queen I completely forgot that you were still in here.” Lance stammered while Keith was still too mortified to speak.

“It’s alright.” The Queen replied as she set her book down. Keith, Allura and Lance must have spent at least an hour talking. They were very interesting. Allura talked to Lance more like an equal or a friend rather than a servant or employee which was something interesting, that he hadn’t seen very often. At least it meant that he had an excuse to talk to Lance without making the situation uncomfortable. Refusing to speak to someone and speaking only to their bodyguard did not look good in any circumstances.

Sadly, after an hour had passed Arthur came knocking on the door for him, telling him that it was time to change into his eveningwear before the opening of the tournament. Keith sighed and went with him, reluctant to leave Allura and Lance behind.

Lance’s bright blue eyes were in his mind while Arthur helped him out of the tight red jacket. When it finally came off, he let out a few deep breaths, glad that he could breathe properly again.

“Ah yes, that one was a bit too tight wasn’t it?” Arthur asked as Keith took in deep breaths.

“A bit?” Keith narrowed his eyes. But he didn’t have long before he was put into another long, black coat adorned with sparkling golden thread. Thankfully, this one wasn’t anywhere near as tight as the other one. He could actually breathe comfortably, which was a nice change. He looked at himself in the mirror. The golden thread extended in swirling patterns from his shoulders down to his waist, and then the pattern was repeated again at the bottom hem of the coat. Keith turned around, feeling the bottom spin out beneath him like a skirt. Definitely a lot better than the red coat he’d been wearing earlier today.

And then he was made to sit down as a handmaid took over and carefully drew lines of black on the edge of his eyelids and filled the rest of them with glittering gold powder. He sat as still as he could as she applied the make-up carefully to his face. She added a touch of colour to his lips and cheeks, and finally he was done. Now all he had to do was make it through the damn tourney.

The ceremony began at nightfall, and the castle grounds looked beautiful. Flaming torches shone light onto hundreds of beautiful floral decorations, displaying not only the beauty of Sandresta’s local flora, but also showing some fantastic exotic species. Keith had to admit that it looked fantastic. And the air was thick with the mixed scent of wood-Ssmoke, food and hundreds of different floral perfumes. Despite all else, at least it looked nice.

He had already sat down in his seat (a special one carved to look somewhat like a throne) before he met the others, who were all dressed to the nines too. Even the bodyguards looked like they had polished and cleaned their armour for the night. Lance was quiet literally a knight in shining armour, Keith found that thought amusing. Although when Keith greeted him, he watched Lance’s eyes widen and his cheeks glow pink before he received a hasty wave back. Which, he guessed was maybe a good thing.

The night itself wasn’t that bad. He didn’t get as much of a chance to talk to Lance as much as he wanted, but he still got to watch a fantastic opening ceremony filled with music and dance and as much fanfare as possible. The food was a lot better than he thought it would be and he’d spent most of the night in polite conversation with Allura and Sangrietta. Sangrietta, for some reason, found herself getting more friendly with Bjorn after a few drinks. Since Keith had forgiven Bjorn’s misguided attempts at flirtation, he really didn’t seem to be that much of a bad guy. And who knew, maybe Sangrietta liked having fun in the middle of the woods.

And when the night was finally over, Keith went back to sleep. He felt a lot better than he had been feeling in the morning, and he was sure that it was something to do with a certain knight. He fell asleep that night thinking of Lance’s beautiful smile, the way he’d held his hand in the parlour, and the shade of pink he’d turned when he’d seen him dressed up in his evening wear. Maybe the next few days wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. At least he had his knight in shining armour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry, I meant for this to come out earlier but uni was kinda killing me lately. Anyways here's pretty Keith with eyeliner while I ignore all the essays I should be writing.  
> Happy trails! <3


	4. Day Two- Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha sorry i'm so late with this you guys. School decided to fuck me over and make everything due at once :(  
> but im not dead and here's a new chapter!!

Keith woke up the next morning, still tired from the events of the last day, He groaned and rolled over in his bed while someone (probably Arthur) was trying to get him to get out of bed. The ceremony was followed by a party which lasted well into the early hours of the morning. Staying up that late combined with all the wine he’d been encouraged to drink left him exhausted and in a poor mood. It took a few minutes gentle prodding and encouragement to get Keith up and out of bed. He took a warm bath while Arthur got his outfit for the day ready. He didn’t even want to think about what it could be yet. His father seemed to think that the best change of getting him married would be to dress in felt like the tightest, flashiest and most uncomfortable clothes in existence. And he still didn’t really want to think about the whole marriage thing anyways. Part of him didn’t want to believe it, that this was all some kind of dream or a cruel prank, or anything really that meant that he wouldn’t have to get married to some random person he’d only known for ten days.

Unfortunately, by the time he had finished his bath, he hadn’t woken up and returned to a world where he wasn’t being forced to make life-changing decisions in less than two weeks. He guessed he was stuck with this crap for now. Slowly, he climbed out of the bath and towelled himself dry. His mind went back to last night, and more importantly back to Lance. He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Lance flirted with him yesterday. Did he really mean it? Or was it just a joke? He did seem like the kind of person who flirted around a lot. With that carefree smile and warm expression, it was easy to picture him flirting with anyone in a ten foot radius. He didn’t want to picture Lance flirting with anyone else. He was the only person he wanted to think about Lance flirting with. He kept that thought in mind while he was helped into a restrictive purple shirt and black woolen tights.

“Don’t you think this is a little, you know, low cut?” Keith asked, fingering the swooping neckline which was decorated with detailed dark purple embroidery.

“I don’t think my opinion is the one your father’s concerned with, Your Highness.” Arthur said as he continued helping Keith into his tights.

“Well, I don’t see why I can’t choose my own clothes to wear like a normal adult.” Keith protested.

“Your Highness, I don’t think that dressing the way you want to will give the desired _impression_.” Arthur replied.

“I know, I know.” Keith said. “But I’m starting to get tired of this.”

“Don’t worry, Your Highness, it’ll only last eight more days.” Arthur smiled, an attempt to be comforting.

“Yeah, because I’m _really_ looking forward to whatever’s going to happen at the end of this damn tourney.” Keith grumbled while Arthur finished.

“You should be more positive, Your Highness.” Arthur said as he drew his hands away.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Keith said as he stormed out to go and get his breakfast.

He had hoped that if he came down early, he would avoid all the others and hopefully be able to enjoy a breakfast in peace for one day. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. His parents and a couple of people were sitting at the table. The breakfast table was covered in all sorts of fresh and exotic fruits, as well as pastries and cooked meats and eggs. It did smell fantastic, and if he wasn’t so annoyed right now he would be stuffing his face with fruit and pancakes. Bjorn and Allura were already sitting there along with his parents. He moved to sit next to Allura, which was thankfully quite far away from Bjorn as he was probably going to be able to get. As he was about to put his hand on the chair, his father cleared his throat and glanced to the chair beside him, which also happened to be next to Bjorn.

“Good morning, son.” His father said. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Yes, father. I slept wonderfully.” Keith replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice as he went to go sit next to him. “How about you?”

“You know, I could barely sleep.” His father’s voice was filled with the false enthusiasm Keith knew all too well. “I was just so excited thinking about everything that’s going to be going on in the next few days. Aren’t you excited?”

“Yes father. Positively thrilled.” Keith said as he sat down. Once he was sat down, the servants took this as a que to begin serving, since all of the hosts were now present. He had a chance to distract himself from any possible conversation with Bjorn by concentrating very much on the orange he was peeling.

“You know, it’s rare to get a chance to eat so much foreign fruit up in Scotanavia. In the winter, some people are lucky to get any fruit at all.”

“No? Really?” Allura asked, surprised.

“Yep, if you plan on coming over for the winter, make sure you bring a taste for salted fish, because that’s most of what you’re going to be eating for the next few days.” Bjorn replied jovially.

“Oh.” Keith said and wrinkled his nose. He could barely tolerate salted fish on a good day. If getting married to him meant that he’d have to spend months eating damned salted fish, he was not looking forward to it at all.

“It’s not as bad as you think.” Bjorn said. “You get used to it after a while. And besides, it’s quite an aphrodisiac.” He leaned closer to Keith, who was trying his best to smile while trying not to be crushed by Bjorn’s immense weight. Luckily he was saved from giving a reply as Lance came in along with Bjorn’s bodyguard, excusing their lateness as they had apparently been busy helping with some last minute setup for the day’s events. After being thanked countless times for their efforts, they went back to their usual spots of waiting at the sidelines. He shot a quick look at Lance, whose attention right now was focused on the breakfast table heavy with food. Of course, none of the bodyguards would have had a high enough standing to sit and eat with the royalty, so Lance had to eat at another time. Had he already eaten? Or did he still need to? Maybe that was why he was staring at the breakfast table so much. He probably hadn’t had a chance to eat breakfast yet. Poor Lance. If he had a choice, he would have definitely invited him to sit down with him. They’d eat together and they’d probably have a great conversation, instead of an awkward one about the aphrodisiac qualities of salted fish.

He looked up from his plate and noticed that Lance was smiling at him. He turned and smiled back quickly, and held eye contact for a couple of seconds before he noticed that his father was right next to him and quickly turned back. Damn it. That was close. He needed to stop getting so distracted by Lance whenever they saw each other. It was only going to get him into trouble.

Sangrietta was next to arrive, tired and what possibly looked like a little bit hung over. Well, she had drank a lot at the opening ceremony. She sat down and rested her head in a hand, staying unusually quiet. She wasn’t very conversational, preferring to sit down and ignore her migraine instead of talking to anyone else. And last to show up was Sun, who all but stormed in dressed in a long black coat. So it didn’t seem like he was a morning person either. The rest of the breakfast passed by easily. With everyone else there, it was easier for Keith to avoid awkward questions by just quickly shifting conversation and avoiding his father’s judging glance.

After breakfast, it was time to go to the tourney. Well, it was time for the most of them to get to the tourney. Sun, for some reason decided that he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to go, heading back away from the sunlight and into his dark room. The rest of them headed to the tourney, where once again, he was directed to sit next to Bjorn again. On his other side sat Sangrietta, who had recovered somewhat from her hangover and was now chatting with Bjorn. He was grateful for that, since the two of them seemed too deep in conversation to pay too much attention to him or try and give him any more fish-related pickup lines. Although he did notice Bjorn giving him a quick glance at Keith’s chest every now and again. He toyed with the neckline of his shirt self-consciously. He frowned. It also kind of bothered him that Lance was so focused on his job instead of him. Unless Lance was being very careful about it, he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him looking at Keith’s fairly revealing shirt. He peered over at Lance again, who was whispering into Allura’s ear. It wasn’t like he wanted Lance’s attention, it would just be nice for him to be noticed by him once in a while.

Today’s events began with oration. In other words, he was forced to sit and listen while people read out poetry. Apparently it was part of an initiative to further encourage the artists of the country. They got a chance to read out their work, and as a result they got a couple bags of gold as a prize. It wasn’t a bad idea, in his opinion, but he really didn’t like listening to long speech after speech. Especially on a hot day like this. Despite Keith’s loose and somewhat revealing outfit, he was soon feeling gross and sweaty. He wondered how hot Lance was getting in all that armor. _No, Keith_. He told himself, _don’t think about Lance getting all hot and sweaty. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t._ He really didn’t want to get a boner right now, right in the middle of the tourney.

The speeches continued and Keith was starting to fall asleep. He jerked awake after a gentle and polite tap from Allura. Glancing over at Lance again, Keith noticed that he too, was falling asleep. Everyone else looked like they were either close to sleep or paying rapt attention to the speeches. It looked like he had free reign to have a little _fun._ It was probably a bad idea, but at this point who cared? He was getting married in eight days so he might as well enjoy whatever freedom he has now. And part of that freedom was finding out if Lance was interested in him or not. He leaned over to whisper to Allura, and he _really_ leaned over. Making as big of a show of it as he could without attracting unwanted attention, he gave Lance a clear view below his swooping neckline as he talked to Allura, feigning interest in the speeches.

He couldn’t help but smirk when out of the corner of his eye he saw Lance’s eyes catch him and look for a few more minutes before turning away quickly, with what could possibly be a faint blush on his cheeks. At least now, he had found something which made the whole thing more bearable. He spent the rest of the day catching Lance’s eye whenever he could, and trying hid best to flirt with him whenever he could. There was one time when he almost had a heart attack as he caught Lance winking back at one of his flirtation attempts.

When the day’s events drew to a close, he was glad. He could finally enjoy a nice dinner and hopefully get to bed early. And dinner was actually bearable too. Sun joined them, saying that he felt much better than he had in the morning. Sangrietta, was thankfully still taking Bjorn’s attention, talking to him so much that be barely got a chance to turn away. She smiled and laughed and drank more wine as they talked. At least someone’s romantic life was going well. He felt his father’s judgemental eyes on him. Probably because he wasn’t making more of an effort to talk to Bjorn, but he didn’t care. He carried on talking to Allura, ignoring his father’s glare.

After dinner, he got up and got ready to head to bed, but his mother smiled politely and rested her hand on his shoulder before he could excuse himself.

“I have an idea!” She began. That sounded very unpromising. “I think that you should spend some time trying to get to know your suitors, dear.”

“What?” He didn’t think his mother had ever called him dear before.

“You’re going to get married soon. I think it’ll be a good idea if you were to spend a few minutes talking to each person individually. You’ll get a chance to know them better. Maybe it’ll help you make a decision.” In other words: _stop messing around and pick someone before we do it for you._ Great. Now he was going to have to endure “private conversations” with Bjorn the exhibitionist and Sun, who simply made him uncomfortable.

Before he could even get out a word of agreement, he was sitting in Sun’s dark room, listening to him pepper the conversation with innuendos and pickup lines. Well, it was clear that there was no way in hell he was choosing this guy.

“Are you interested in anything other than sex?” Keith asked, his patience waning.

“Well, you could tell me more about some of the paintings I’ve seen around here.” He said. “I am very interested in art, you know.”

“Oh really?” Maybe there would be a possibility of a normal conversation.

“I’d be very interested in a work of art like you.” He said with a grin. Keith almost audibly sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. His mother had promised him that there’d only be half an hour with each suitor. There were still fifteen minutes left, and unfortunately there was no handsome knight Lance to save him from this creep.

So he let himself zone out as Sun kept on talking about God knew what, thinking once again about Lance. And more importantly the very small possibility that Lance might like him back. Lance was like the first ray of sunshine on a new day. His knight in shining armor. And boy, did he want to be saved right about now.


	5. Day Two- Part Two

Keith didn’t have high hopes for his second date. After enduring half an hour of listening to Sun alternate between hitting on him and talking about himself, Keith was already fed up. The last thing he wanted right now was to deal with goddamn Bjorn. As he headed towards Bjorn’s room, he felt his father pat him on the back and mutter something which was probably about how much he was avoiding the man and how it “just didn’t look appropriate”. Well, fuck being appropriate, Keith thought to himself. He’d really been given the short end of the stick here, being forced into a marriage with people he wouldn’t even have a second conversation with if he had the chance on a normal basis. Keith rolled his eyes and shrugged away his father's hand. The sooner thus was over, the better. Once this was all done he might even be able to sneak in a quick training session before he was supposed to go to sleep. He still couldn't compete, but at least it would give him a chance to blow off some steam. And honestly, by the end of these ten days, he was really going to need it.  
  
Nevertheless he entered the parlour, where Bjorn sat on an armchair with a drink in his hand. It was hard to differentiate between him and the bear-skin rug lying on the floor. The fire in the fireplace roared, filling the room with a warm, orange glow. Carefully, Keith picked a seat out of arms reach from the man and sat down.   
  
"Can I get you a drink?" Bjorn asked.  
  
"No." Keith replied. "No thank you. I was planning on getting some training done tonight, so I really shouldn't."  
  
"Ah, let me guess. You're an archer?"   
  
"No. A swordsman, actually."  
  
"Really?" Bjorn's eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't really think you had the muscular composition for that." He shrugged while Keith tried not to feel insulted. Who the hell did this big ball of fur think he was? He could cut him into pieces if he wanted to, and then Bjorn would see how much damn muscle he had.  
  
"I like to rely on refined technique more than brute strength." Keith replied icily. He kept a smile on his face as he looked at Bjorn right in the eyes. He knew, he was playing with fire here and this was sure to get him into a lot of trouble later, but right now he didn't really care. Exhibitionist Bjorn who doubted his sword fighting skills was going down. "I'd be happy to take you on sometimes. Prove you wrong." The tone of his voice and menacing glare made it pretty clear that Keith wouldn't be too concerned if he were to _accidentally_ slip up and injure him while they sparred.  
  
"Sure." He said with a smile. "A puny little guy like you could definitely take me on."  
  
"I could!" Keith retorted. “I would kick your ass!” Well, that wasn’t exactly very _royal_ of him. But he really didn’t care very much. The prospect of disappointing his father and marrying pretty much anyone else seemed more and more tempting every time Bjorn spoke.

“Well, if you think so, then-“ Bjorn began before he sighed and buried his face in his hand. “You’re really starting to hate me, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Keith said slowly, not quite sure what was going on. “It would help if you didn’t spend so much time insulting me.”

“I know. It’s just – don’t take this the wrong way. I just – I just don’t want to marry you.” Bjorn said. Keith fell silent, his eyes wide. “Not that there’s any reason _not_ to. I mean, I was at least considering it when I came here, and then Sangrietta came along and I really can’t do this anymore. You know, go into a marriage with someone I don’t love. I’m sorry. I thought that maybe if I was unattractive enough for you, I would be avoid getting married without damaging any reputations or making my parents upset. Honestly, I didn’t think your father would push so hard for you to stay with me.”

“Yeah, you and me both, buddy.” Keith said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Really? You aren’t mad?”

“Well, I am annoyed but it’s fine. I mean, I thought I made it pretty obvious that I never really wanted to marry you.”

“Yeah, I guess you did.” Bjorn replied with a sheepish smile. “I guess I was, you know, kind of distracted the past couple of days. I wasn’t really paying too much attention.” And at this point, it started to make sense. He thought about the offhand comments from Bjorn that really, really didn’t sound like something a prince would say. And he thought about all the glances and smiles between Bjorn and Sangrietta, and all the ones he probably missed while he was staring at Lance. It was starting to make sense now. Hell, if the two made each other happy then no problem. At least it meant that he didn’t have to think about Bjorn wanting to take him back to Icenoria and nearly getting eaten by a bear when they were having outdoor sex. It was a burst of relief.

“Yeah, me neither.” Keith replied. Once the feelings of relief went, the room suddenly became awkward. They were both sitting there now, knowing that there was no chance that they were going to ever get married. Bjorn quietly sipped his drink while Keith stared into the fire, waiting until he could leave without his parents who would be no doubt be waiting outside thinking that he was being rude. A few attempts at polite conversation fell short, and the two were left in near complete silence while they waited.

Eventually, Keith got tired of the silence, the only sounds in the room being the quiet roaring of the fire, the rhythmic ticking of the clock and the occasional sound of Bjorn taking a sip from his glass. He stretched and got up.

“I think I’d better get going now.” Keith said. “But thanks. This was – this was actually somewhat nice.”

“Thanks.” Bjorn said with a smile. And with that, Keith left. And sure enough, on the other side of the door was his father, who was pretending to be in deep discussion with a maid. He avoided his father’s glances as he hurried through the hall, wondering if he could possibly escape more dates, get into something more comfortable and train.

He was half the way to his bedroom when his mother caught him, shepherding him towards Sangrietta’s bedroom, despite his protests. No matter now much he insisted that there was probably no way on Earth that he was going to end up marrying her, she didn’t listen. She pretty much dragged him to her bedroom, depositing him at her door and telling him to be polite before leaving. He knew the he probably could sneak off again, but his mother would definitely find him and be much less pleased with him than she already was. And he was already setting the bar pretty low at this point. Whatever. It wouldn’t be that bad. Sangrietta seemed like a fairly nice woman. Even though there wasn’t going to be anything coming out of it, it really couldn’t be too bad.

He pushed open the door to find Sangrietta sitting at a table by a large window, sipping a glass of wine. She smiled amicably and gestured him over. He took a seat across from her.

“And how are you doing, Prince Keith?” She asked.

“Quite well.” He replied. “And you?”

“Great. Would you like some wine?” She held out a bottle of wine and a glass.

“Oh, no thanks.”

“No, no. Don’t refuse me. You’ll have at least one, won’t you?”

“I really shouldn’t.”

“Please.” She smiled and poured out a glass. “One little glass won’t hurt, now will it?”

“If you insist.” Keith said, accepting the glass, just to be polite. He sipped on it carefully. It was smooth and fruity, but not too sweet. Just the way he liked it.

“So, I’m guessing that I’m not a candidate for this whole marriage thing, am I?” She said.

“Uhh – “

“Don’t worry about it.” She said with a smile. “I guessed that you’re not really interested in all of this, you know.” She gestured to her body. Keith smiled.

“As lovely as you are, I am going to have to say that you’re right.” He replied and took another sip of wine. The wine was great, and kept the conversation going. The more he drank, the more they talked. They talked about wine, food, their countries, the tourney, pretty much everything and anything.

“So, what do you think about Prince Bjorn?” She asked, refilling his glass.

“What do you mean, what do I think?”

“Do you like him?”

“Well, I think he’s nice, but – “

“Nice? Look at his body! It’s beautiful!”

“He’s not really my type, to be honest.”

“Well, he is mine.” Sangrietta said with a grin. Keith laughed. They talked and laughed more, and Keith drank more, until he knew that he _really_ needed to stop drinking, get up and leave before he got too drunk. He was already feeling a lot warmer and more cheerful inside. And although those feelings were welcome given his shitty day and the low-cut blouse he’d been made to wear, he knew that he’d better stop now if he wanted to practice tonight. Or get through his last stupid date thingy without causing an international incident.

After Sangrietta talked him into one more glass of wine, he left. Somehow managing to walk down the stairs without tripping over, he was actually slightly thankful for his mother directing him to where he needed to go. His last stop was Allura’s room. Allura so far had been the nicest and most pleasurable of all the guests. He was almost sad that he wasn’t going to marry her. Really, he would love to spend more time talking to her and be friends with her. And that’s what this damn tourney was supposed to be about, wasn’t it? He was meant to be making better connections with other royals, wasn’t he? And he was doing just that without having to fucking get married.

When he finally made it to Allura’s room, he opened he door and she welcomed him in with a warm and kind smile. He carefully made his way over to the couch where Allura was sitting and took a seat next to her.

“And how are you doing tonight, Prince Keith?” She asked.

“Good, and please, call me Keith.” He replied.

“Oh, alright then Keith. There is actually something that I want to talk to you about.”

“Yes?”

“Well, it’s about Lance, my knight.”

“What about him?” Keith froze.

“I’ve seen the way you two have been flirting and – “She began. Fuck. The last thing he wanted right now was to get into shit because of how long he spent looking at Lance.

“I’m sorry. Really, I should know better than to fraternize too much with your staff. It wasn’t appropriate of me at all and I apologize.” Keith blurted out quickly.

“Relax.” She laughed. “I’m not angry.”

“Aren’t you?” Keith asked.

“No. I can see the way you and Lance feel about each other, and I support it. Love is important, and everyone should be with someone they love.” Allura replied.

“Really?” Keith asked.

“Yes. Should I tell you something?”

“Uh, yeah. Go ahead.”

“When I was your age, I fell in love as well. With a handsome, strong soldier. One of the very best men in our army. An incredible person, but not a drop of royal blood in his body.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy. It took months and months of convincing, but eventually father decided to let me marry him.”

“And then what happened?” Keith asked.

“We were happily married for years. And after my father passed away, we ruled as King and Queen. He was loved all throughout the land. Everything was perfect and I was so happy.” Allura let out a sigh and looked out of the window. “Things never seem to last long, however. My husband died in battle a few years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.” Keith replied.

“It’s alright.” She said. “It’s just that I know what it’s like to be separated from someone that you love. It’s difficult. And I don’t wish that upon anyone else. You should just stay with Lance, if he makes you happy.”

“I wish it were that simple.” Keith frowned. “But I can’t just marry him and be done with it. Firstly, my father would never agree. And if I don’t get an alliance with a rich country through marriage by the end of this tournament then the whole country is in trouble. As much as I want to, I just can’t.”

“And why can’t you?” Allura said. “I convinced my father, eventually. I’m sure that you could.”

“You don’t know my father.” Keith replied. “And besides, that still doesn’t solve the impending financial crisis that’s gonna happen if I just go with whatever I want.”

“I could.” Allura said. “I mean, I was supposed to be looking for more trading agreements as well. Why not kill two birds with one stone?”

“You would do that?” Keith asked incredulously. This couldn’t be real. This woman came into his life and quite literally gave him everything he needed to be happy. She could solve his country’s financial problems and had brought him in contact with the most handsome and nice man that he’d ever met. Hell, he could marry Allura right now, since he was so damn happy with her.

“Of course. You deserve to be happy, Lance deserves to be happy and you both should share that happiness. I don’t see why I shouldn’t help. Shiro and I were so happy together. All I could ever want is to wish that upon everyone else. Call me crazy, but I’m a sucker for a good love story. And I feel like this could be a great one.” She smiled. And Keith smiled, a genuine grin on his face. It felt so good to smile, to be happy that maybe, maybe there was the slightest chance that they would end up together. It was enough for him right now, just knowing that there would be a possibility for them, no matter how small.

They talked more about her deceased husband. He listened while she told stories about him, and they talked about love in general. He lost track of how much time he’d spend. When he eventually looked out of the window, he saw how inky black the sky was and jumped to his feet. Damn. He was supposed to train today. With hurried goodbyes, he rushed to his room to change into something more comfortable. He slipped out of his uncomfortable clothes and into something more comfortable. A loose-fitting tunic and trousers that didn’t cling to his skin.

Tying his hair up in a ponytail, he walked out into the yard. There were still decorations hung up from the festivities, despite the fact that nobody was there. He took in a deep breath of the cool night air and let out a sigh of relief. He still was a little drunk, but maybe he could still get in some drills. He walked past the gardens, taking in the smells all the flowers and the dancing lights of fireflies. The gardens were really beautiful and lavish, filled with plants from all over the world. With summer drawing near, the flowers were starting to disappear as fruit grew in its place. It would be harvest time within a few months, and then the whole country would be working hard, hopefully with a few more trade agreements that would hold this country together. While enjoying the view of the plants, he heard someone rustling around in the garden. He spun around, and behind him saw nobody other than Lance, kneeling down beside a young jasmine shrub.

“They smell beautiful, don’t they?” Keith asked, approaching him carefully. Lance jumped slightly and looked up.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t see you there.”

“I just got here. I thought it’d be nice to take a walk.”

“Yeah, me too. The gardens look amazing, by the way. They grow these flowers in Altea too. Smells just like home.”

“Queen Allura’s told me so much about Altea. It sounds like a great place.”

“It is. Maybe you should come by and visit sometime.” Lance smiled. “I could give you a special tour.” That made Keith smile.

“I would like that. It’d be nice to spend some time getting to know you better.”

“Me too. I mean, we still have to have that swordfighting competition you promised. I’m looking forward to kicking your ass.”

“Pffft. Yeah right. I bet that I’d kick your ass blindfolded.” Keith laughed. He knelt down besides Lance to smell the flowers. “They really do smell fantastic, don’t they?”

“I know. It’s too bad that it’ll only bloom for a few more weeks.” Lance replied. He reached down and picked a few of the small white flowers and slipped them behind Keith’s ear, letting his hand trail slowly down his face. Keith took Lance’s hand into his own and held onto it.

“Lance, you know, having you here has helped make these past couple of days much more bearable. Really, I wish these ten days would last forever, just so that I could spend more time with you.” Keith said. And really, he wished he could spend all the time in the world with Lance, the two of them laughing and flirting with each other. That way he’d never have to worry about losing him or getting married, just enjoying the presence of each other would be enough.

“Me too.” Lance said, “Do you wanna, uh, go for a walk?”

“Sure.” Keith said, letting Lance help him to his feet. They didn’t let go of each other’s hands as they walked through the gardens, marvelling at the plants and talking to each other. Lance made Keith laugh, and smile and held his hand tightly. Keith had never felt so warm and happy inside. As they sat down by a small pond and watched the stars, Keith was sure that he’d be happy living in this moment for the rest of his life.

“Hey, Keith -- “ Lance began.

“Yeah?”

“I know that you’re a prince and all, but I really like you.”  He said. “Really.”

“Lance, I don’t care about royal blood or whatever. I like you. And I want to spend as much time as I can while you’re here with you.”

“But aren’t you supposed to be getting married?”

“Screw that. Look, Lance. There’s nobody here that I like more than you. Really. I want to spend my time with _you_ while I still can.”

“Oh Keith.” Lance turned away from the stars to look into Keith’s eyes. Slowly, he leaned in closer. Keith leaned in too, until he was barely an inch away from Lance’s beautiful soft brown skin. Lance pressed his lips to Keith’s in a slow, loving kiss. Keith sighed as Lance reached up to entwine his fingers in black hair. This moment. This moment was perfect. Sitting by the stars, kissing the man he was in love with. He was in bliss as he pulled away. Allura could possibly be right. The only problem was that now he had to convince his father.

Shit. His father. His father who had a bedroom window facing this part of the gardens. Who could have easily seen them. His father who was ready to marry him off to any royal he could find. Fuck.

“Keith,” Lance whispered. Crap. Keith couldn’t risk this right now. Not when his father was already mad at him.

“I have to go.” He murmured hurriedly before getting up and running back to the castle. He heard Lance yell his name behind him, but he ignored it, rushing to his room where he slammed the door and dived onto the bed, soaking the pillow in tears.


	6. Day Three - Part One

Keith groaned and rolled over in his bed as sunlight streamed into his window. His head was paining, and the bright morning light and the sound of the birds chirping outside of his window weren’t helping at all. He sighed and buried his face further into his pillow, ignoring the knocking on his door that was probably Arthur trying to get him ready for another day. Really, he’d rather do anything than squish himself into another stupid outfit his father had picked out because he had a vague hope it would seduce Bjorn. It would be better if he could just stay in bed and forget everything that happened last night. He had vague memories of drinking a lot of wine, kissing Lance and then running away. He shifted when the knocking did not stop, pulling himself up into a sitting position. Lying on the pillow next to him were a few small, slightly crushed white flowers that still had some fragrance in them. He picked them up and carefully cradled them in his fingers, remembering the way Lance’s fingers had ran down his face.

It had felt so good, but he’d had to have gone and ruined it by running away. Fuck. Eventually he pulled himself out of bed and opened the door, letting Arthur in. Arthur sighed over the bags under his eyes and hurried over to “fix him up”.  Today he was forced into wearing more uncomfortable clothes. An itchy and slightly translucent long flowing robe-like grab. Keith played absentmindedly with his sleeve while Arthur worked with his hair. The pale blue was decorated with sparkling gold edging. And he had to admit that it looked nice, despite how itchy and uncomfortable it was.

“You know Arthur, it would be nice if Father could pick something that was actually comfortable to wear for once.” Keith said as he scratched his arm. Arthur just smiled at that and didn’t give an answer, moving on to adjust his outfit. Really, how long did it take to adjust a robe? It was just a damn robe. What was there to adjust anyways?

“Cheer up, your majesty. The jousting tournament’s today. Don’t you love jousting?”

“I love actually jousting, not just watching other people when I’m not allowed to join in.” Keith grumbled.

“Keith, I know that you’re disappointed you can’t join in –“

“Disappointed is putting it lightly. I’m pissed.”

“Look, I know that you’re angry but you just need to get through this. It’s only one tourney. There’ll be so many other times you can compete other than this one. Just try and get through this, okay?”

“It’s not just one tourney, Arthur!” Keith pulled away from Arthur’s hands. “It’s the stupid clothes and the whole stupid marriage thing! I hate all this, you know I do. I just want things to stay the same way they always were. Is that too much to ask?”

“Keith, you know that everything changes over time.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean it has to in ten days! How the hell am I supposed to make a life changing decision like getting married in a week?” Keith shouted.

“Please,” Arthur attempted to console him. “This kind of thing happens all the time with royalty. And your father only has the best intentions in mind.”

“And what about I want?” Keith asked. “Doesn’t that matter?”

“And what, exactly do you want, Keith?” Arthur asked, and then Keith stopped. He knew pretty well what he wanted, and he knew he wasn’t likely to get it. He wanted Lance. He wanted to spend more time with the handsome knight. He wanted to not be a fucking Prince any more. That way, he could do whatever he wanted without worrying about the country or what other people would think. Maybe if he’d just been a servant working at the castle, the two of them could have still fallen in love. And when they did, it wouldn’t really be a big deal if they decided to run away together. Sure, it would raise a few eyebrows, but it wouldn’t cause a financial crisis, at least.

And yes, he knew what Allura had told him, but he just couldn’t belive that he could convince his father by the end of the tourney that he should get married to someone without a drop of royal blood in their body. Hell, he was lucky his father had even considered letting him marry a man. Maybe it would be best if he tried to just forget about it all. He knew they weren’t going to end up together, so it was probably better to just focus on trying to get through the next week without ripping all his hair out.

At breakfast, he avoided Lance’s gaze, turning away any time Lance looked at him. But every time he was turned away, Keith couldn’t help but look up to catch a glimpse of him. He looked tired. He probably hadn’t slept very well either last night. Keith felt a stab of guilt in his stomach. He’d run away last night without even so much as an explanation. God knows what Lance had been thinking after last night. He knew that he’d hurt him. Of course he had. And he also knew that the right thing to do was to go up to him and talk about it. To explain what was going on, make sure that Lance knew that it wasn’t his fault and find a solution together. But he just couldn’t bring himself to face him after running away like that.

And besides, it turned out that he had more important things to think about when his father pulled him to one side after breakfast.

“What now?” Keith asked, itching at his sleeves again.

“Today is the day of the jousting tournament, one of the most important events of the whole tourney.” His father said.

“I know.” Keith deadpanned. “It’s a pretty popular sport.” His father ignored his comment.

“A couple of your suitors will be competing in the event today, and I think that as a prince of a marriageable age, you should be giving a favour to a contestant.” He presented to Keith a small wreath made of intricately woven flowers. Red and white, the colour of the flag. He reached out to gently brush his fingers against the flowers. They looked beautiful alright. And he was almost certain that nestled in there were some jasmine flowers from the same bush he’d found Lance by last night. He drew his hand away and looked up at his father.

“What do you mean?”

“Just that I think it’s time you award a contestant for their talents and present the favour to the one with the best technique. Simple.” _Translation. You better give these damn flowers to one of people I told you to marry or so help you God will there be consequences._ Nothing could ever be easy with his life could it? When he was already fed up and done his father wanted him to present flowers to whoever the hell it was he was supposed to marry in front of hundreds of people. “It’s customary.” His father said as he took in Keith’s expression. “It’s a tradition and you should uphold it.” He spoke in an authoritative tone that made it clear that there was going to be no arguing.

And with that Keith headed to the grounds, which had been carefully set up. Out of the corner of the eye he spotted Lance in deep conversation with Allura. And he had a feeling that he knew what the conversation was about. There was a hurt look on Lance’s face that Keith knew with complete certainty he was responsible for. He walked past hurriedly to avoid their attention, taking his seat, ready to watch the jousting begin. When everyone came to join him, he noticed that Bjorn and Sun were missing. No doubt they were going to compete. Keith shuddered at having to make the choice between the two of them. Well, Bjorn could be considered safe now that he knew that he had no actual intention to do anything with him, but he still didn’t want to. He was just so damn sick and tired of his father at this point. It was enough that he had to get married, but now his father got him to parade around handing his suitors flowers because he thought he’d get have the best chance of getting a husband if he acted like a virginal girl from a romance novel. Hell, he wouldn’t be that surprised if by the end his father had him standing dramatically on a cliff in a flowy white dress.

Keith was trying to focus back on the jousting which would be starting any time soon, when he noticed that Allura had sat down beside him.

“How are you doing today, Keith?” She asked.

“You talked to Lance about last night, didn’t you?” Keith asked, not bothering to beat around the bush. Allura shifted in her seat.

“He said that you seemed upset. I just wanted to check if you were okay.” Allura replied.

“I’m fine. Really.” Keith said quickly.

“Keith,” Allura began slowly. “I know that what you’re going through is difficult right now, but both of you are hurting and should really talk about it.”

“Difficult?” Keith hissed. “Difficult? I have to pick someone to get married to in a week, with not one single person that I’d like to spend the rest of my life with. On top of that my father is dressing me up to fit in with his deluded fantasy ideas of what romance should be, my actual love is a disaster and my country’s about to suffer a financial crisis if I don’t get my shit together.”

“Keith – “Allura began.

“Look, I have so many things to deal with right now. I just don’t need to add any more stress or whatever to what’s already going on.” Allura put a reassuring hand on Keith’s shoulder. “I just – everything’s a bit much right now. I need a time out.” He turned away from her and focused back on the jousting competition, which was just beginning.

As the men on horses rode up and down the court, Keith found his attention drifting away. Every few seconds he looked up at Lance’s face. He could see how hard Lance was trying to ignore him, to not betray how he was feeling to Keith. Damn it. He’d really messed up big this time. He forced himself to pay attention to the jousting competition, as much as it hurt to watch without joining in. He tried to focus on the jousters, analysing their technique, pointing out where it was sloppy and how it could be improved. Allura, thankfully was a great listener asking questions which caused him to explain in more detail. It was a good distraction from everything going on.

Eventually, both Bjorn and Sun had their go. Sun lost in after a couple of games, while Bjorn actually won quite a few. Lance was a knight, he thought. He wondered what kind of a jouster Lance would be. Of course he wouldn’t be able to compete in this competition, his main priority was Allura’s safety. Lance had a surprisingly strong, lean build. That was a great combination for a jouster because it gave him the ability to put a lot of force behind his jousting lance without compromising his horse’s speed too much with his weight. It would be interesting to see him compete one day. Keith would put money on him getting far in a competition, maybe even winning.

While he was busy fantasizing about how Lance handles a lance, the competition ended, and the winner was a young-looking knight who Keith had never seen before. He had a good technique though, Keith remembered that at least. Now came the moment of truth. He had to give those damn flowers to someone so that his father felt like he was doing the whole “finding a suitor and falling in love” thing.

He slowly made his way down the steps of the wooden stands. Someone from the help handed him the wreath, which felt heavy in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. All he needed to was get through a little speech and give the damn wreath and then it would all be over. Then, he be able to go back to burying himself in all his covers and sulking. Nervously he cleared his throat.

“Thank you, one and all for joining us today for the jousting tournament. Today I’ve seen a lot of talent from near and far.” He caught Lance’s bright blue eyes in the crowd and quickly turned away. “And I am very glad to congratulate the winner.” He shook the winner’s hand and announced his name. All that was left was to announce the winner of the prize for best technique.

“And the award for the best technique goes to – “Keith hesitated, trying to figure out what name to say while hoping everyone was still thinking he was just doing it for dramatic effect. “Sir Gunderson.” He handed the wreath to the youngest knight of the tournament, who had shown a surprising level of skill despite size. Keith actually felt good giving the award for someone who deserved it as opposed to just someone he was supposed to be getting with at the end of the tourney. Or at least he did until he caught his father’s face in the crowd.


	7. Day Three - Part Two

Keith had officially pissed off his father to a new extent. He smiled as the audience applauded and pretended he hadn’t seen his father’s face yet. However, he could feel the burning glare on him. The knight he’d just awarded, Sir Gunderson, bowed when they received the wreath.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” They said.

“Don’t thank me.” Keith replied with a smile. “You deserved it.” The knight thanked him again before hurrying off to the side. Keith sighed and made his way back up to the golden gilded seats reserved for the royal family. His father, he noticed, was sitting in his seat rigidly, his eyes wide open. He was trying his hardest not to let his face betray how angry he was, at the risk of causing a scene. The worst part was that Keith had to walk past him to get to his seat. When he was in front of his father’s seat, he heard a strangled hiss behind him.

“We’ll talk about this later.” Keith gave a small nod in acknowledgement before taking his seat. Allura turned to him, discussing the tournament results. It was nice, despite fact that she wasn’t really an expert. He caught Lance looking at him again. God damn it, his whole policy of ignoring him was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

~ ~ ~”

It turned out that ‘later’ wasn’t really too long of a wait. As soon as the events of the day were over, and they all traipsed back into the castle, Keith’s father followed him to his room.

“Yes?” Keith asked, tugging at the uncomfortable robe. His father fumed quietly. He turned to close the door behind him before speaking.

“What the hell was that?” His father wasn’t going to beat around the bush.

“You said to hand out the favour, and I did.” Keith replied. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you weren’t supposed to give it to some random knight nobody’s heard of.”

“So what if I did?” Keith asked. “Nobody seemed to mind, did they?”

“It’s not the matter of nobody minding. It doesn’t look good, Keith.”

“I don’t know about you, but I thought it looked pretty good to the public.”

“Yes, but what about your suitors? Giving a favour would have been a great declaration of love!”

“Sure, if my life were a fucking romance novel.” Keith snarled back. “And you know, maybe I’d make some great declaration of love if there was someone here I could actually marry!”

“So all these people aren’t good enough for you? Is that what this is, Keith?” His father asked. “Do you think that much of yourself?”

“You know that’s not the case.” Keith narrowed his eyes. “I don’t love anyone you’ve brought here like that. If you wanted me to marry someone, then you shouldn’t have picked such shitty choices!”

“Don’t be so disrespectful!” His father retorted. “And don’t forget about the agreement we’ve made, my son. You either pick one of these four, or you don’t get to pick at all.”

“Father!” Keith replied.

“No.” His father said. “You’ve been getting way too out of hand lately. It’ll be a great day when you’re married off and gone.”

“How can you say that?”

“I’ll say whatever I like. I’m the King.” His father replied. “Now you’re going to stay in your room and think about how you’re going to make things up to Bjorn.” And with that, his father left. Keith heard the sharp, metallic click of the door locking a second later. He rushed to the door and pounded on it.

“Father, what are you doing? Let me out?” He heard no response. Clearly his father had already gone. With a tired sigh, Keith pulled off his robe and flopped down onto the bed, burying his face in the pillows. He remembered the day before, when he’s still had a faint hope that maybe he would be able to convince his father to let him marry Lance. That clearly wasn’t going to happen now. His best hope now was probably just to end up in a loveless marriage until the end of his life. Alternatively, he could just run away and leave the country’s economy to collapse with no trade alliance to help him. As much as it hurt, he knew that he couldn’t do what he wanted. Doing what made him happy would put the lives of many people in the country at risk.

He sighed and got out of bed. What he really needed right now was some fresh air, but the door was locked. Instead he decided to walk up to the window. It was big enough to fit through, but it was still pretty high up. He opened the window anyways and looked down, confirming that it was quite a way down. Desperate for some fresh air and a chance to defy his father again, he then proceeded to strip his bed of all if it’s dressing and began to tie them together into one long rope. Once he was done, he carefully checked each knot, making sure that it would be able to hold his weight. When he was satisfied, he carried the sheets over to the window and secured one hand to the curtain rail. He threw the rope outside the window and watched as it fell, stopping a couple of feet short of the ground. That was good enough.

Pulling on a tunic and some breeches, Keith grabbed the rope and climbed carefully down the side of castle. It was hard to find footholds on the stony castle walls in the dark night, but Keith still managed. A few moments later, he dropped down to the ground and made his way to the gardens, where he had met Lance last night. He wasn’t sure if he was intentionally looking for Lance, or if it was just because Lance had given him good memories of the place. He thought about the crushed jasmine flowers that were probably still somewhere in his room. It really was too bad that he was probably never going to have a chance to see him again after this whole tourney was over.

So far, the garden seemed deserted apart from him. This slightly disappointed him. Maybe he had been subconsciously looking for Lance. Alone, he made his way to the jasmine bush where he’d seen Lance last night. The smell was somewhat comforting. He bent down and brushed aside a few leaves, revealing a small bunch of tiny, white flowers.

“I knew you’d like them.” A voice came from behind him. Keith spun around to find Lance standing over him, smiling softly.

“Lance?”

“I knew you’d stop ignoring me eventually.” Lance laughed.

“I’m sorry, it’s just – “ Keith trailed off.

“I know, I know.” Lance replied. “I’m not royal. You’re a prince, you’re not really supposed to be fraternizing with people like me.” He held out a hand to Keith.

“Don’t I know it.” Keith took Lance’s hand and let him help him up.

“C’mon, let’s go for a walk.” Lance held onto Keith’s hand. Keith smiled and didn’t let go.

“Why are you still being nice to me?” Keith asked. “I’ve been ignoring you all day and you’re still here.”

“Well, I figured you wouldn’t want whatever we have going on between us exposed in front of everyone.” Lance replied.

“You’re too nice, you know.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Lance said. “I used to get in trouble all the time when I was in training because I kept going too easy on everyone.”

“I was the exact opposite.” Keith let out a chuckle. “Even when I was little, they had to keep a doctor on hand because people kept getting injured.” This elicited a laugh from Lance.

“Okay, I have to admit, five-year-old you with a sword would be kinda cute.”

“That was the plan. I lured them in with my cuteness. They never suspected a thing.”

“And do you still use that tactic?” Lance asked with a smile.

“Huh?”

“I mean your cuteness is still pretty distracting.” Lance laughed. “In the right hands, it could be a very powerful weapon.”

“I think I’ll have to remember that for next time.” Keith replied. “Maybe I’ll use it when I take you on.”

“In that case, you’ll have me on the floor in less that a minute.”

“Maybe that’s what I want.” Keith said, causing Lance to blush and let out a nervous laugh.

“So, what’s it like being a prince?” Lance asked. “It must be pretty cool to have all that power and get to go to all those fancy banquets and everything.”

“Yeah,” Keith’s mood took a turn for the worse when Lance mentioned being a prince. He really just wanted to forget about it all. But it wasn’t like he could be mad at Lance for this. Hell, he doubted that he could ever be mad at Lance. “The food is pretty good.”

“Keith?” Lance must have picked up on Keith’s mood change. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Keith looked away.

“Keith. It’s not nothing.” Lance replied. “I know that I haven’t known you for very long, but I’d like to help. Talk to me, maybe I can figure out some way to help.”

“I doubt that.”

“Well you don’t know that yet, do you?” Lance said. “Come on, just give me a chance, will you?” Keith hesitated, unsure.

“It’s my father.” Keith began.

“The King?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith replied. “I mean, we’ve never really gotten along very well before, but this whole marriage thing has taken it to a whole new level.”

“Marriage thing?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” Keith asked. “I thought Allura would have told you. But anyways, my father wants me to get married. Like soon. He’s given me until the end of the tourney to pick one of the guests he’s brought over to marry, and if I don’t he’s going to marry me off to someone without my choice.”

“Oh God, that sounds terrible.” Lance replied.

“Yeah, it’s just that I don’t want to marry any of the people he’s chosen for me. It’s like he just expects me to fit in to whatever plans he’s made up for himself.”

“Well, why don’t you just run away?” Lance asked. “You’re an adult. You could probably find a way to look after yourself. Why not?”

“I wish I could.” Keith sighed. “I wish I could just get up and leave this all behind, but I can’t. The country’s economy isn’t doing too well, and if I don’t get married and get a good alliance going, then the whole place is screwed. Being a prince comes with responsibilities, Lance. I can’t just leave everything behind.”

“Oh,” Keith felt Lance squeeze his hand. “So you and I can’t …”

“No. As much as I wish I could, I can’t. Lance, as much as I like you, my responsibilities as a prince are going to have to come first. I just hate the fact that I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life stuck in a marriage that I’ll be miserable in.”

“Then don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t.”

“Lance, I don’t think you’re getting what I’m saying.” Keith said.

“No, just listen to me. If you marry Allura, we can still see each other. And she really wouldn’t mind, especially if it makes the both of us happy.” Lance explained his idea. Keith was a little taken aback at first. Jumping into a sham marriage seemed a little extreme, but Lance wasn’t wrong. It would mean that they could be together, but not without concerns.

“Are you sure? What if we get found out? Everyone’ll be talking about us having an affair.”

“Hey, I’m not talking about an _affair_. I’m just, you know, talking about something on the side. I don’t – uh – I don’t know if you guys have a word for it, but it’s not that big of a deal in Altea. Happens all the time.”

“I don’t know, Lance.” Keith replied. Lance frowned before he took both of Keith’s hands.

“Keith, you said that I made you happy, right?” Lance asked.

“Well, yeah.”

“Then let me carry on making you happy.” He said. “Trust me on this. We can find a way to make this work.”

“Lance, why are you trying so hard on this?”

“Because I really like you, okay? And I want you to be happy. If being with me is going to make you happy, then I’m going to try as damn hard as I can to make sure that it happens. So please, let me make you happy, Keith.” Lance said passionately. Keith felt his heart twinge.  He really had been so wrapped up in himself that he hadn’t spent too much time thinking about Lance’s feelings, or what he wanted. And now that it was clear what Lance wanted, it was both relieving and worrying. It was a relief to know that Lance really did like him back, just as much or maybe even more than how much Keith loved him. But he was worried about where their relationship was going to go. He couldn’t just run away. He needed to find a way to make Lance happy as much as Lance wanted to do the same for him.

“Lance, I really like you too.”

“That’s not an answer, Keith.” Lance said. Keith took a deep breath. He’d never really been too god at the whole expressing emotions thing, but he was going to have to.

“Lance, I really like you too. And I want to be with you. I want us to have a happy life together, no matter what it takes.” Keith said, slowly and surely. “We’ll find a way to be together. No matter what. I promise.” Lance smiled. He let go of Keith’s hands, and instead pulled him into his arms.

“We can make things work Keith, I’ll make sure of it.” Lance whispered into the crook of Keith’s neck. Keith simply nodded and burrowed himself further into Lance’s chest. He felt so safe and warm in Lance’s arms. If he could just stay in them together, he would be happy. Lance would make him happy. He just knew it.


	8. Day Four - Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry this is so late school is death

Keith woke up the next morning to the loud chirping of birds. He groaned and rolled over covering his eyes to hide from the light. He couldn’t have slept well last night, he could feel every tiny bump and imperfection on his mattress, and he was aching all over. It took him a few moments to realize that he was in fact, not sleeping on his mattress.

His eyes flew open when he realized that he was sleeping on cold, lumpy and hard ground. No, he wasn’t sleeping in his bedroom, he was out in the gardens, but that wasn’t all. Still asleep next to him was Lance. Keith thought back to the night before. He remembered going out to the gardens for a walk, and then meeting Lance. He remembered sitting down next to him and talking for a while, but he didn’t remember getting up and going back to his room at any point.

“Lance?” He whispered. The sun had barely risen, which thankfully meant that the gardeners probably hadn’t come out yet. They probably wouldn’t take too kindly to finding him fast asleep in the middle of the gardens with someone else’s guard. Lance stayed fast asleep. Keith sat up and nudged him.

“Hmm?” Lance moaned and wiped his eyes. “What?”

“Lance, are you awake?” Keith asked.

“Huh?”

“We – were we here all night?” Keith asked.

“I guess so.” Lance said. “We were talking pretty much all night, right?” Lance slowly sat up too. He even looked good in the morning, with wrinkled clothes and disheveled hair sticking up in all directions. The way the morning sun lit up his face was incredible, Lance was almost glowing. Keith wished that the tourney was over, and that he and Lance could just sit in the garden forever, talking and watching the sun move through sky and the flowers dance in the breeze. Keith was just about to relax back down onto the ground when he heard the sound of voices approaching. God damn it. The gardeners were starting their work.

“Lance, we should go.” Keith hurriedly got to his feet.

“But – “ Lance began.

“If we don’t leave soon, then people will start asking questions.” Keith got to his feet and began dusting off his clothes. “Come on!”

“What’s the rush, then?” Lance replied. “S’not that big of a deal if people talk, is it?”

“It is if you know my father.” Keith replied, holding out a hand for Lance. “And he’s already pissed at me about all this. I’d rather not risk making matters any worse. We should leave, before I get myself into any more trouble.” Lance took his hand and let Keith help him up.

“How long are you going to keep hiding this from everyone?” Lance asked, flattening down his wayward strands of hair.

“Look, I’ll try to figure something out, okay? I just need some time. “ Keith said.

“You have like six days.” Lance replied bluntly.

“I know, I know.” Keith said. He really didn’t need to be reminded of the incoming deadline. “I’ll – I’ll figure something out, alright. I promise.”  Lance thought for a while, before nodding.

“I trust you. But remember, you aren’t in on this alone. I’ll be there if you need me.”

“Thanks.” Keith replied. He leaned in for a farewell kiss. It was short, quick and sweet. Keith wished it could have been longer, but the sounds of the gardeners reminded him about why he had been in such a hurry in the first place. He took off and ran back into the castle, thankfully avoiding being seen by anyone. Rushing back to his room took longer than he thought it would when he was trying to hide from all the staff who were hurrying around, keeping the place clean. But eventually, he had managed to make it back to his bedroom without being caught. He flopped down onto his bed, tired and glad that he could sleep on a comfortable surface at last.


	9. Day Five- Part One

“Your Highness!” Keith was woken up a few minutes later by Arthur knocking on his door. Reluctantly, he got up and went to open the door. He opened it to Arthur, who stood holding a bag which probably contained whatever terrible clothes he was being forced to wear that day.

“Ugh. Is it that time of day already, Arthur?” He asked.

“Unfortunately.” Arthur replied sympathetically, heading into his room. “Is something wrong? You don’t look like you had a very good night’s sleep.”

“Uh, yeah.” Keith rubbed the back of his neck. “I think all the stress of the tourney is starting to get to me.”

“Your Highness, things will work themselves out.” Arthur said as he went to make Keith’s bed for him.

“Arthur, how can you say that? This isn’t just some minor problem that’ll blow over. Whatever happens at the end of this tourney could change my life forever. I can’t just wait and hope that things will just magically come out fine, can I?” He knew it wasn’t fair to take his anger out on Arthur. The man had done nothing wrong, other than bring Keith terrible outfits to wear every day.

"It will be fine your highness." Arthur repeated softly. "Just have faith." Keith sighed and let him help him into the day's outfit, which was a long jacket made of heavy golden cloth, decorated with green embroidery, and paired with golden, silk tights. He frowned as he adjusted the collar in his mirror. He needed to talk to Queen Allura. She'd helped him before. Or at least, she'd tried to. He could only hope that she would be willing to help him again. Because he really needed a plan, unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life in the frozen mountains of Icenoria with a hairy exhibitionist as a husband. Keith shuddered at the thought. 

  
Memories of the previous night didn't resurface until Keith was at the dining table for breakfast, with his father sitting across the table from him. He shrunk down in his chair slightly. His father was probably still angry. Hell, he was still angry. But right now the best thing to do was to lay low. As much as it infuriated him, it would do him no good at all to carry on pissing his father off as much as he had been doing. Now was the time to act smart.

  
"So Keith, since the events start a little later today." His father spoke through a feigned smile. "How about spending some time with prince Bjorn after breakfast? I really think that the two of you should get to know each other better."

  
"Father, actually I was planning on talking to Queen Allura about something when I got the chance." Keith looked towards her, hoping that she caught the pleading look in his eyes.

  
"And what were you planning on talking about?" His father asked. _Fuck_

  
"Uh..." Keith struggled to think up of an excuse. "We were going to discuss fruit trading."

  
"Yes!" Keith had to hold in a sigh of relief when Allura jumped in to save him. "we were discussing some newer methods of preservation my people have been developing, which will allow for easier trade between our two nations."

  
"Well that sounds like delightful news!" His father exclaimed. "But still, now isn't the time for talk about business and trade. Now is the time to enjoy ourselves! So please son, no need to worry about all this. It can be dealt with after the tourney. Just concentrate on enjoying yourself around our guests." In other words, his father was telling him to hurry up and propose to Bjorn already. Whatever. Nothing new. Keith ate his breakfast avoiding as much eye contact as possible. When he had finished early, he stood up. Manners be damned, he couldn't spend another minute in front of his father's gaze. He walked quickly to his bedroom, checking behind him to make sure his parents weren't following.

  
~ ~ ~

  
When he got to his room, the maids were still making his bed.

  
" -- missing. Didn't you hear? And Shelly says that she can't find that set of antique candlestick holders for the life of her."

  
"Really?" 

  
"Would I lie to you?"

  
"Well do you think so, then?"

  
"Think what?"

  
"Do you think that there's a thief in our midst?" The second maid whispered dramatically.

  
"Oh please, Marge. You need to read less of those melodramatic stories. There's no thief."  
  
"But how can you be sure? If there is -- " Both maids fell silent the moment Keith’s bedroom door swung open.   
  
"Oh Master Keith! If we'd known that you'd be heading back to your room so early, we would  
have made sure it was ready by now. Please forgive us." One maid said.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Really. " Keith brushed them off. I just stopped by to pick something up." Honestly, he had been planning on hiding in his bedroom until someone forcibly dragged him out, but the awkward interaction with the maids was something else he wanted to hide from them now. And so, he left. He needed somewhere else to hide from others. The gardens were no good. There would be people all over there, enjoying the natural beauty before the events of the day started. The training grounds were out too. They’d be full of knights getting ready for the competitions, and besides, that was the first place anyone would look if they were trying to find him.

He ended up curling up in an armchair in the library. The room was there mainly for aesthetic purposes at this point. Nobody in the family was very interested in literature in general, so the only people who came in regularly were the maids, who came every now and again to dust the shelves. The room was warm and quiet, and Keith curled up further into the chair as he began to rack his brains for any kind of a plan. The closest thing he had to an idea involved a faked paternity scandal that would end up with Lance magically seeming to have enough royal blood to make getting married to him any kind of possibility to his parents. Damn, he really needed Allura’s help. The armchair was soft and comfortable, and warm sunlight streamed through the windows. Keith yawned and laid his head on an armrest, falling asleep quickly.

_The next thing he knew, he was standing in a garden. One that was even more magnificent than the one in the place. Flowers of all shapes, sizes and colours bloomed around him. He bent down to pick up a red one with large petals and raised it to his face. Before he could smell it, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around quickly, and there stood Lance, who looks stunning in black and white dress clothes._

_“Lance?”_

_“C’mon.” Lance reached out for his arm. “Everyone is waiting for you.” Keith let Lance take his arm, and followed along as he was taken through the garden._

_“I guess we’d better get back to the tourney, then.” Keith said begrudgingly._

_“Tourney?” Lance asked. “What are you talking about?” Keith looked at him, confused, but before he could say something, Lance had pulled him to a stop._

_“We’re here.” He said with a sigh of relief. They stood in a clearing, the flowers around them dancing merrily in the breeze. The clearing, however, was not empty. At one end stood a white archway, about six feet high. Around it was wrapped delicate-looking pink and white flowers on vines. The rest of the clearing was filled with neat rows of white wooden chairs, with a pathway down the middle. Lance pulled Keith down the pathway towards the arch. At this point, Keith looked down and notice that he was also dressed in black and white dress clothes. He pulled back against Lance’s grip, causing him to stop and look back at him._

_“Lance, what the hell is going on?” Keith asked, feeling Lance’s grip on his hand loosen._

_“Keith, are you okay?” Lance answered with a question, looking back at Keith with just as much confusion as Keith was looking at him. “I thought that you’d wanted this for a while. We both had, right?” Keith continued to look at him, confused, for a few seconds, before he understood. At which point, he smiled and took Lance’s hand in his own, squeezing it gently._

_“Come on.” Keith replied. “Let’s hurry up.” They walked down to the flower-covered arch hand in hand. Keith felt lighter with each step as birds soared overhead and crickets chirped from in between the flowers._

_At the arch, they stood facing each other, holding each others’ hands. Keith looked into Lance’s bright blue eyes and smiled. He was right where he was meant to be. Lance leaned in closer for a kiss, and Keith leaned in in response. He was close enough to smell Lance’s warm, comforting scent, and could almost taste his minty breath –_

“— running late. Hurry up.” Keith jolted awake to find his mother standing over him.

“Wha…?” Keith groaned sleepily.

“Keith, the tourney is about to start, and you’ve been sleeping here? Hurry up! People are waiting for you.” His mother chided, attempting to shoo his out of the armchair.

“Relax, I’m getting up.” Keith grumbled as he stood up.

“You know, you could have spent this time talking to one of your suitors instead of sleeping all morning.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to.”

“Keith, you should take an interest in these people.”

“Well you should give me more than ten days and four people to choose from!” Keith’s mother bit her lip and nodded.

“Look, I admit that the circumstances aren’t exactly in your favour…” She trailed off.

“So you admit that it’s not fair.”

“Keith,” His mother began pleadingly. “I think that you should just try to make the best of things.”

“Make the best of things? I’m supposed to spend the rest of the life with someone and you’re asking me to make the best of things?” Keith asked angrily.

“I know, it’s not fair to ask you to compromise like this, but your father – “

“Screw him.” Keith narrowed his eyes. “And you’re just as bad, you know.” He stormed past her and out of the library, slamming the door behind him shut.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading and feel free to check me out on my [ tumblr ](http://long-days-pleasant-nights.tumblr.com)!


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